On forest hydrology in South Tyrol: Processes, modelling and assessment

This article presents the investigation of forest–hydrology links in South Tyrol, Dolomite Mts, north Italy. Specifically, the study focused on investigation of the effects of old (> 200 years) and young (< 30 years) forests in regulations of climes. To this end, several key meteorological parameters were evaluated and analysed statistically: evapotranspiration, precipitation, temperatures and water flow. Additionally, the role of fog in distribution and percolation of water was investigated. Dominated species are spruce Picea abies (L), 12% Swiss stone pine (Pinus cembra L.), and 3% European larch (Larix europea L.) trees, as well as Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and European rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), presented sparsely. The statistical analysis performed using Python tools revealed to what extent forests increase or decrease streamflow, and mitigate the temperature and regulate precipitation. In this way, coniferous foretss reduce floods, and increase dry season flows. The effect of old and young coniferous subalpine forest was studied with respect to rainfall in varied meteorological settings (dry and wet days). The paper contributes to the development of land management and silviculture.